The Maelstrom of Time
by Pokota
Summary: It was not a good thing that Harry and company destroyed the Ministry's stock of Time-Turners when they went to 'rescue' Sirius Black in the spring of 1996. Crossover between Harry Potter and Sailor Moon Z  read all Author's Notes BEFORE complaining
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's Note: _**_I don't usually put these at the beginning of chapters, but I figured that this was more than just kind-of important. This story, _**The Maelstrom of Time**_, is a crossover between the Harry Potter series and Sailor Moon Z, which in itself is a crossover between Sailor Moon and a whole bunch of other series that, with one exception, I am not very familiar with. No, Dragon Ball Z was not one of the series blended in, and neither was Ranma 1/2._

_I would recommend that you read Sailor Moon Z (by Jeff Hosmer and John Biles; I highly doubt it's here on FFNet), but for the most part this is a Harry Potter fic with some Sailor Moon Z meshed in._

* * *

><p>It was dark. Then again, Salazar Slytherin wasn't exactly known for building the Chamber of Well-Lit Secrets. Harry Potter lit his wand and ran over to the recovering Ginny Weasley. The Diary was dead, and so was the basilisk. Fawkes was floating off to one side, and the Sorting Hat was just sitting around waiting to be picked up.<p>

Ginny opened her eyes and moaned softly. "Damnit, why's it so dark in here?"

Harry helped her sit up. "Ginny, are you okay?"

Ginny shook her head, rubbing the side of her forehead as though she had a headache. "No more Ogden's Old Firewhiskey before bed, Harry; I feel like I'm in the Chamber of Secrets again..."

Harry cocked his head to one side. "Er, Ginny? You *are* in the Chamber of Secrets."

Ginny stood up quickly, but overbalanced and fell onto her butt. "How'd we get here? When did we shrink?"

"Well, Riddle didn't really explain properly how you got down here, so I'm guessing-"

Ginny looked at Harry sharply. "Wait. Wait just a second. Did you say Riddle didn't explain properly?" Harry nodded. "Harry, what year is it?"

"Nineteen Ninety-Three, why?"

Ginny buried her head in her hands. Harry was surprised to hear some of Vernon Dursley's choicest words coming out of the little girl's mouth. "Harry, we've got to see Dumbledore. Now, if not sooner."

"But how? He's been-"

"He's in his office, waiting for Fawkes to bring us there. The password should still be Sherbert Lemon." Ginny started wringing her hands worriedly. "Damn, if I'd known that this was going to happen..."

Harry just took Ginny by the hand and led her out of the Chamber. They came across Ron, who was almost done shifting the rock that had collapsed into the passageway, and the greatly improved Gilderoy Lockhart, who was idly standing around without saying or doing anything. Ginny ran to her brother and hugged him.

After a brief interlude that doesn't deviate at all from what canonically happened, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fawkes, the Sorting Hat, and the greatly improved Gilderoy Lockhart were standing inside of the Headmaster's Office. Except for Fawkes and the Sorting Hat, who were sitting around. Molly and Arthur Weasley, Minerva McGonagal, and Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore were all standing in the office, mildly surprised and extremely relieved to see the three students standing relatively safe inside of his office. After an explanation that still didn't deviate from what happened in the books, Dumbledore excused Ginny and the two adult Weasleys.

Ginny shot the Headmaster a look. "I'll come back later to talk to you, Professor. It involves a certain Prophecy in a certain Department in a certain Ministry."

* * *

><p>After Ron was excused from the Headmaster's office, Ginny pinned him to the wall. Not literally, as she was still a good foot shorter than Ron at the best of times and was currently in the body of a twelve-year-old, but she still cornered him.<p>

"Ron, can I borrow Scabbers for a little bit?" she asked, in a sickeningly sweet voice that made her shudder on the inside. Ron hesitated for a moment, but let Ginny borrow Scabbers. Ginny smiled inwardly; Pettigrew has NO idea what's coming. The door to the Headmaster's office opened, and Harry made his exit. Ginny entered the office and steeled herself for what was sure to be an unpleasent discussion.

She sat across from Dumbledore, who smiled serenely. "Well, Miss Weasley, I suppose the first thing I need to ask is how much you know about the Prophecy."

Ginny frowned. "Hold it, Albus. Harry and Ron *just* got done dealing with one unscrupulous bastard that didn't care whose memories got evaporated, how do I know you won't do the same to me if I turn out to have known too much?"

The headmaster continued smiling serenely. "Aside from the fact that you would not have dropped such a hint if you did not have some degree of faith in my honesty and integrity, I made an unbreakable vow to protect the students of the school as best I could and to never knowingly harm them."

Ginny laughed humorlessly. "Then why aren't you dead yet? Well, no, actually, it's a good thing that you're not dead yet. Harry could have really used your help during his seventh year."

"During his seventh... ah, you're from the future?"

"I was seventeen as of my last birthday, and Flitwick will find a way to transfer written messages using the Patronus Charm shortly before then. He said your research into using it to send vocal messages was a very good foundation for his experiments."

"Ah, so his experiments won't be in vain. I'm happy for him; I guess I can help him out a little more now that I know it will actually work." Dumbledore tapped his forehead. "But that's not why you've come back, is it?"

"I didn't 'come' back so much as I was 'sent' back. Right now, the problem is that I wound up a year or three earlier than Astra meant to send me."

"But why were you sent?"

"Shortly after Harry finally defeated Voldemort, we finally got in contact with the Japanese Ministry of Magic. It turns out that they've been dealing with a number of monster attacks, and something about one the Five Ruling Wizards being reborn or something. I don't remember the message properly, but the upshot was that because of something that happened here in England, the Great Shield was in danger of never existing in the first place. Since neither of the resident time masters, nor the Queen of Destiny, could see here back past a certain point in the spring of 1996 - which, by the way, won't happen if you tell Harry about the Prophecy sometime in the next two years as the event was a direct result of you NOT TELLING HIM - it was a bit of a blind shot. Harry was supposed to come back with me, since the two of us have a very good idea of what happened and when and how to prevent it, but apparently something went bonkers and I was the only one to be sent back."

"So, why is it a problem that you're so early?"

"Because I have no intention of reliving my second, third, and fourth years at Hogwarts just to get to when I was supposed to be." Ginny sighed, then stared at the ceiling. "I also have to deal with some very... disturbing... lusts as a result of having an adolescent Harry in front of me instead of my Harry, which was why me and Harry were supposed to be sent back together."

Dumbledore winced at the implications. "Is there anything else you wish to tell me?"

Ginny smiled and pulled Scabbers out of her pocket. "Sir, do you happen to have an unbreakable jar? I don't want anything untoward to happen until after I'm done explaining this one."

Ginny placed the dozing rat animagus in the jar and sealed it before Pettigrew knew what was really happening.

The headmaster looked at Ginny, quite bemused and somewhat upset at the apparent inhumane treatment of the apparent pet. "You'll want to call Ron, Harry, my parents, and Professor Snape in here for this; I don't want to explain it twice."

"I don't think it would be a good idea for too many people to know that you've 'come'... excuse me, been 'sent back' from the future. Tell me what you have to say, and I'll tell them afterwards."

Ginny sighed. "Very well, but it's on your head if Ron decides to use me as fertilizer afterwards. You are familiar with the story of how Peter Pettigrew died?"

Scabbers jumped inside the jar. Dumbledore pretended not to notice. "Killed, along with twelve muggles, in a duel with Sirius Black, if I remember properly. The most they ever found of him was a finger. The explosion was so powerful that it cracked the street open, exposing the sewer beneath."

"I want you to take a close look at that rat's right forepaw."

Dumbledore took the jar and inspected the rat's right forepaw. "It seems to be missing a toe. What does this have to do with Pettigrew?" The rat flinched again.

"Sir, are you familiar with the names Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs?" The rat flinched.

"I cannot say that I am; should I be?"

Ginny sighed. "I'm guessing you try not to perform legilimency on students unless you suspect that they are hiding something from you specifically?" Dumbledore nodded. "I'll have to start from the beginning, then. At one time in this school's history, a werewolf was admitted as a student, was he not? One Remus John Lupin?" Another nod. "The first time he ever had real, true friends was here at Hogwarts - Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter. I don't know which of the three first noticed that Remus was a werewolf, but eventually the three of them started studying ways to stay with Remus even despite the werewolf transformations."

She paused, waiting to see if the connection was forming. Dumbledore, apparently idly, picked up the jar and started observing the rat's behavior. It was behaving very oddly. "Go on, Miss Weasley."

"Very well then. In the year that those four took their OWLs, they finally mastered the Animagus Transformations. James Potter and Sirius Black were large mammals, so that they could keep Remus in check if need be. However, large mammals cannot enter the Whomping Willow, so they needed an animal that could touch the Freezeknot on the Whomping Willow."

"Which is why you have this rat inside of an unbreakable jar. You suspect him of being Peter Pettigrew. What difference does that make? Sirius was still the secret keeper..." The rat flinched again. "Sirius was not the secret keeper, was he?"

"No; Peter Pettigrew had been made the secret keeper in order to add a layer of deception to the plan; they suspected Remus of being the spy, and therefore he was never told that there had been a change to begin with."

"Poor Remus. To spend so many years thinking that his closest friend was a traitor..." A thought struck Dumbledore. "If Pettigrew is alive, he must have escaped the explosion somehow." He set down the jar and raised his wand. "Expecto Patronum!"

Ginny had never seen Dumbledore's patronus, so she was somewhat surprised at the silver bird that came forth from the wand. Dumbledore turned to the patronus. "Find Severus Snape and tell him to bring me enough Veritaserum to get a giant to speak his deepest secrets, along with the Weasleys and Harry Potter." The silver bird promptly vanished, and Dumbledore turned to Fawkes the Phoenix. "Fawkes, go to Azkaban and stay with Sirius Black tonight."

Five minutes passed in silence, excepting the occasional blorple from one of the many silver instruments that dotted the headmaster's office.

"Ginny, you told me that Harry finally defeated Voldemort. Would you care to tell me why that makes me think Voldemort is going to rise to power again in the next few years?"

Ginny pointed to the Diary. "When Astra told us we were going to be sent back, the first thing we looked into was whether or not we could help with that directly. All I'm allowed to tell you without cheating is to teach Harry what the Prophecy really means, and then let him meet Horace Slughorn."

The silence resumed. Ginny started fiddling with her hands. "Sir, have you ever heard of something called the Sword of Stars?"

Dumbledore blinked. "I think I've heard of it, but I can't remember where or why. Why do you ask?"

"Astra was going to let me call upon enough of her power to protect my family and my Harry, but I got sent back before she could ever explain properly how I would do that. All I know about it is that I'll be able to use the Sword of Stars." She sighed. "It probably doesn't matter, anyway - she didn't even know about the Star Power until her sixteenth birthday, which was January of 1996."

A short moment of silence followed, then Snape - followed by six Weasleys and a Potter - crowded into the office.

Ron stared at the jar, then started yelling. "Why is Scabbers in that jar? Ginny, you said you were going to be good to Scabbers!"

In order to forestall any further argument, Dumbledore opened the jar and set Scabbers onto the desk. The rat started to panic, and fell off the desk - landing on his head, knocking him out cold long enough for the work to begin.

"Molly, Arthur, Percy, Fred and George, Ron... I have reason to suspect that this rat is not a rat at all. How long have you had Scabbers?"

Molly started counting backwards on her fingers. "I'd say about eleven years now; we found him in a pet shop in Ration Alley and bought him for Percy as a pet."

"Has Scabbers ever shown any extraordinary abilities beyond his remarkable longetivity?" All the Weasleys shook their heads to answer no. Snape sighed. "Is there a point to my being here still, sir?"

Dumbledore grinned mischeviously. "Severus, how would you like to deal with the person that forced you to become a spy against the Dark Lord?"

Snape frowned. "I'd like to see Sirius Black's soulless body thrown into the black lake, to be devoured by the Giant Squid."

Dumbledore's serene smile had returned. "Setting aside the who of the matter, please place three drops of Veritaserum in the rat's mouth, then prepare to cast a stunning spell."

If this instruction had confused Snape, the man did not show it. He did exactly as he was told. Dumbledore rolled up the sleeves of his cloak and cast the spell that reverts the animagus transformation.

Peter Pettigrew was unconscious, on top of the Headmaster's Desk. The various Weasleys were different shades of revolted. Dumbledore revived Pettigrew. The interrogation began, but Ginny was not going to stay awake for it. She had other things to prepare for, and a lot of that preparation required a good night's sleep.

* * *

><p>She was floating in space, the stars dotting the vast expanse. Ahead of her was the Moon, and she sensed that the Earth was behind her. A vision of a red-haied girl swam into view.<p>

"Astra." Ginny said simply.

Astra nodded. "Something's gone wrong. Very, very wrong."

"I've noticed. Can you send Harry back?"

"We can certainly try. When did you arrive?"

"Spring of 1993, Chamber of Secrets. Probably a full three years before the Maelstrom of Time began."

"Damn, you fell that far back?" Astra shook her head. "That's not important now. Ginny, the Great Shield is weakening by the moment on our end, the Maelstrom is growing more and more chaotic, and Nephrite can't hold out too much longer; we're going to have to break a lot of rules in order to save the world."

"Well, like what?"

"For one thing, you need to find some people that are living in England - Polly and Chester Amberson, Clark Magusson, and Steven Grant. I should be able to send you a Scriptus once we pinpoint when you are." Astra became somewhat translucent. "Don't worry too much about the Voldemort problem; even if we can't send Harry back at all, the hint you gave Albus should be enough to end the war before it really gets going. This is more important, anyway."

Ginny frowned. "What about the Sword of Stars? How will I be able to call on the Star Power?"

"It'll be in the Scriptus. I've been combing the Library of Odysseus for clues on where the sword is, and the only thing I can find is that it was definately possibly maybe in England during the reign of Penda."

"That's not very helpful."

Astra faded to near transparency. "I can't use too much more power for this, I need to help fortify the Great Shield. Ami and Hermione have an idea, but at best it can only buy us some time on our end. You need to find whatever entered that Maelstrom you six created and stop it."

"What if I prevent the Maelstrom from ever being formed?" Ginny asked.

Astra considered this for a moment. "It would buy us a lot of time, but you'd be stuck in the past until after I get the Star Orb, and even then whatever it was that entered the Maelstrom in the first place would still need to be found and dealt with."

Only Astra's voice remained. "We'll try and send Harry to about a month ahead of when you are; the Scriptus should be able to serve as a beacon as well as a message for you. Try not to cause too much mischief, Ginny."

"Stay safe, Queen of Destiny."

And with that, Ginny awoke in a bed in the Hospital Wing, the last words of Princess Astra ringing in her ears.


	2. Chapter 2

Azkaban Prison was in an uproar. The Dementors were refusing to go anywhere near the Deep Cells. As a result, the air there was warmer, and the mood there was more cheerful. Considering that the most dangerous supporters of Lord Voldemort were kept in the Deep Cells, this was a very bad problem. The aurors were on high alert. With hope and cheer restored, there could be a breakout at any moment.

At least, it could have been a major problem. What the aurors and dementors didn't know was that the warmth and hope were emanating from a phoenix that had materialized in the middle of the Deep Cells. Phoenixes were the closest thing to a living Patronus charm - their internal warmth counteracted the dementor's chill, and any alchemist worth his salt knew the all of the restorative properties of phoenix tears.

The phoenix flew closer and closer to the cell of one Sirius Black. The gaunt man (not the Gaunt Man) looked out of his hellish prison at the flame of hope that had come to him. After a few croaks to clear his throat and get his vocal cords into working order again, he spoke to the bird.

"Hello, little bird. I'm Sirius. What's your name?"

The phoenix crooned softly, and the impression of a fox came into Sirius' mind.

"Fox... Fox... Fawkes? As in, Dumbledore's phoenix?"

The bird nodded and sang, and Sirius thought of his godson. "He'd be at Hogwarts now, wouldn't he?"

The bird preened his tail, and looked into Sirius' eyes. A little of the phoenix' warmth filled Sirius, and he could feel the pull of magic. Focusing hard, he allowed the magic to wash over him, and his animagus transformation into a large dog followed soon after.

The phoenix pecked at Sirius' ear, in what could have been a playful manner. Sirius changed back into his human form, and started to talk to Fawkes. Eventually, he got to the topic of rats. He was surprised when Fawkes placed the image of a rat in a jar into his head.

"Was that Peter?" Sirius asked. Fawkes sang, and Sirius got the impression of a shrug. He laughed. "Well, in any case, I feel a lot better than I've been feeling these past however many years."

A thought came into Sirius' head, and it was one that scared the pants off of him. "Fawkes, will you stay with me?" Fawkes sang a quavering note and stood sentinel outside the door.

Now that Sirius had hope, he was vulnerable.

* * *

><p>Cornelius Fudge, however, was having a very bad day. That morning, when he'd gotten to his office, Dolores Umbridge was drowning in owls complaining about her anti-werewolf legislation. Who knew that there were so many werewolves in Britain? In addition, the Dementors of Azkaban were behaving very oddly regarding the high-security prisoners. That is to say, they were avoiding the Deep Cells like the... well, not the plague, but something similar. To top it all off, Dumbledore had requested his presence at Hogwarts today, and a trip to the School usually meant all his other meetings for the day were cancelled.<p>

Ah well, it's not like the ministry can't run itself for a day. He splashed some floo powder into his private fire and called "Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office" out to the floo network, who connected him to the desired location. On his arrival, he was surprised to see Dumbledore, Snape and Harry Potter talking with Lucius Malfoy and... Peter Pettigrew?

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Fudge asked the Peter Pettigrew Look-alike. He just shuffled his feet and mumbled something.

"Hello Cornelius." Dumbledore said kindly. "As you can see, we have a couple of visitors. Lucius here was just asking me about how we resolved the attacks that had been happening this year, when he saw that Peter here was still alive."

Lucius, who had been just as surprised as Fudge was that Peter was still alive, nodded in agreement. "It is always interesting to see a man come back from the dead, isn't it Minister?"

"Yes, I suppose it is in this case. Peter Pettigrew, how in Merlin's name did-"

Dumbledore cut across Fudge's question. "Cornelius, I should warn you that Peter Pettigrew is currently under the effects of Veritaserum against his will, and therefore cannot legally be questioned at this time."

Pettigrew smiled at Dumbledore, not realizing what the old man was implying. Fudge frowned deeply, and asked "Should I call for Amelia Bones, then?"

Lucius was starting to get nervous. Pettigrew had been one of the few Death Eaters that had known that he had been given the diary, the key to opening the Chamber of Secrets. If he started talking... no, what if Lucius could play it so that he had been an innocent victim? Wait, no, that wouldn't work - Dumbledore would still act against him, and if the Dark Lord truly could return from death as he had claimed... and there was no way Lucius could escape Hogwarts at the moment. The only way out would be Confundo, but if Pettigrew had already told Dumbledore that he knew who had the diary to begin with...

"Minister, that would be my advice. Lucius, I believe your son would be pleased to see you; we can finish our discussion at a later time today." Dumbledore said. Lucius could have sworn he heard a wink in the old man's voice. Taking a bow, Lucius left the headmaster's office and set off for the Slytherin Common Room. Did he get lucky, or did Dumbledore want Lucius on his side? How much did the old man know, anyway?

With Lucius Malfoy sufficiently distracted, Dumbledore took the opportunity to summon Amelia Bones via firecall. The wizened old woman and head of Magical Law Enforcement spun into the room a moment later.

"What's this about Veritaserum, Dumbledore?"

The old man nodded, with the appropriate degree of shame. "Forgive me, Amelia, but I have fed Veritaserum to Peter Pettigrew in order to get an explanation of certain things out of him; he is currently in no fit state to be questioned about how he surived when Sirius Black exploded him."

Amelia turned to Pettigrew and asked "Is this true?" The balding man nodded sadly, but didn't speak.

She turned back to Dumbledore. "What did you question him about?"

"I asked him if the Potters had changed secret-keepers without telling me. I had wondered for a long while why Sirius Black, who by all accounts hated his family and their Voldemort fanaticism, would side with a pure-blood surpemecist. However, his answer to that question or the other one I posed to him are not why I am trying to protect his rights."

Fudge shook his head nervously. "Albus, be reasonable. If Pettigrew betrayed the Potters to Voldemort, that does not change the fact that Sirius Black killed twelve muggles."

Pettigrew shook his head again. Dumbledore sighed and said "Peter, you're still under the Veritaserum. You won't be telling the truth of your own free will."

This did not stop Peter. "Every night, I see them, Professor. I see them in my sleep, asking me why I did it. I was a coward."

"Peter, enough." Amelia said, silencing the man with a jab of her wand. "Dumbledore, I will hold onto Pettigrew until he is freed of the Veritaserum. What else did you ask him about?"

"I had asked him who the Potters' secret keeper really was, why Sirius Black confronted him, and how he survived. That last question is where I'm invoking his rights to a fair trial, as it involves underage unregistered animagery by three former students of mine - one of whom is dead and one of whom is in Azkaban, the third of whom is standing in front of you under the effects of Veritaserum."

"So, it is not for his sake that you won't let the testimony stand?"

"I do not want a repeat of Sirius Black's trial."

Fudge looked at Dumbledore quizzically. "What happened at Black's trial?"

"There _was_ no trial." Amelia sighed. "I understand what Dumbledore's getting at. If the law is not upheld by the government, why should the people uphold the law?"

Fudge sighed with an air of confronting the inevitable. "I'll launch an investigation as to why Sirius Black was imprisoned without a trial. Amelia, what's the punishment for illegal animagery?"

"Up to ten years in Azkaban, depending on activities performed while unregistered." Amelia frowned. "Dumbledore, is Sirius Black an animagus?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

* * *

><p>Fudge and Amelia were pleasently surprised by what was causing the dementors to avoid the Deep Cells.<p>

Amelia cleared her throat and adressed the gaunt man. "Sirius Black, it has come to our attention that you did not recieve a trial before you were imprisoned in Azkaban Prison. However, it has also come to our attention that you are an unregistered animagus. The punishment for Unregistered Animagery is, at most, ten years in Azkaban Prison. How do you plead?"

Sirius smiled. "Guilty as charged."

"Then I hereby sentence you to time already served and to register with the Improper Use of Magic office at your first opportunity. You will also come to a Wizengamot Hearing on the twentieth of June in order to discuss your killing of twelve muggles and one wizard."

"I'm free to go?"

"That will be decided on the twentieth of June, but for the moment you are not a prisoner of Azkaban. Now, how did that phoenix come to be here?"

"Ask Dumbledore, it's his bird." Sirius said, almost laughing. "I'd leave right now, but the cell is still locked."

Amelia smiled. "Fudge, go get the key to his cell. What's your animagus form, Black?"

In answer to her question, he transformed into the big black dog, and found that he had shrunk enough to be able to fit through the bars of his cell. After climbing through, he transformed back to human form. "On second thought, Minister, don't worry about the key. How did you find out about my animagery, anyway?"

Fudge smiled a grim smile. "From the same evidence that may permanently exonerate you from Azkaban. Your trial is not the only one on the twentieth of June."

And with that, the unlikely trio worked their way out of Azkaban, accompanied by a brigtly shining phoenix.


End file.
